Chagall Art In Season Of Restoration

Chicago's Frigid Winters And Scorching Summers Take Their Toll On Things As Well As People. Downtown, "Les Quatre Saisons" Mosaic Is Being Renovated Again After Years Of Such Treatment.

July 14, 1996|By Phat X. Chiem, Tribune Staff Writer.

It is not four but two seasons--the harsh winters and scorching summers of Chicago--that threaten the possibility of future viewers' marveling at Marc Chagall's luminous mosaic, "Les Quatre Saisons."

Since its installation in 1974, the downtown landmark in the First National Plaza at Dearborn and Madison Streets has suffered through cycles of freezing rain and thawing ice. The alternating extremes have repeatedly expanded and cracked the mortar holding the millions of colorful tiles together.

"The Four Seasons" has deteriorated at such an alarming rate that even a major renovation in 1988, which replaced 25 percent of the tiles and installed a protective granite roof, has not stopped the ravages of Chicago's weather. It is a feeling most Chicagoans can sympathize with, especially in the depths of winter.

The sympathy has extended to a second massive restoration effort initiated in mid-March by The First National Bank of Chicago, which maintains the artwork. The renovation is scheduled to be finished for the mosaic's 22nd birthday on Sept. 27.

This time, the plan calls for a free-standing, secondary roof made from bronzed steel and frosted glass to protect the mosaic from the unrelenting elements. Constructed by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the structure was designed as "a minimalist solution" that would not distract from the mosaic's quiet beauty, while limiting water penetration of its delicate surfaces.

"The pavilion structure that we devised maintains a spirit of understated elegance," said Joseph Gonzalez, a project designer. "We developed a scheme that allowed the (Chagall) piece to speak for itself."

With that strategy in mind, the 90-foot mainspan of the bronze structure ends with columns featuring a "cruxiform" design rather than the bulkier standard of squares. The two intersecting beams that form the columns will hide their true mass, said senior project designer Ricardo Fernandez.

The roof also uses frameless frosted skylights designed to allow light to diffuse onto the mosaic, highlighting the jewel-like tiles.

"The play of light will be apparent on the mosaic surfaces, which was the intention of the artist," Fernandez said.

A second phase of the renovation involves some cleaning and minor restorations of the art piece. The cost of the entire effort is estimated at more than $1 million, although bank officials declined to give an exact figure. The 1988 restoration cost $450,000.

For many art lovers, the cost is small to keep a priceless city treasure from disintegrating into a pile of wasted chips. Chagall's mosaic is one of several art pieces in the downtown area regularly visited by tourists. Others include Alexander Calder's vermilion-painted steel construction, "Flamingo," at the Chicago Federal Center and the untitled sculpture designed by Picasso, installed at the Richard J. Daley Center.

Chagall presented the mosaic as a gift to the people of Chicago. Maintained by the bank, the art piece is owned by a local non-profit organization, Art in the Center Inc.

In a talk at the University of Chicago in 1958, the Russian painter recognized the city's energy as "this continuous motion, the coming and going of machines and people, in search not only of material welfare, but of an ideal unknown to me. . .so many people speaking different languages, mixed together and united in the same youthful aspirations."

A generation of people would later arrive at the same conclusions looking at Chagall's frenzied mosaic, including Edith and Tom Nielsen, who came from North Carolina Friday to see the artwork.

They didn't get to see much. Workers have boarded up the mosaic to protect it during the construction phase.

"So that's all we get is a picture of it, huh?" Edith Nielsen said with more than a tinge of disappointment. "I've seen some of Chagall's pieces in Switzerland. He did these inlaid glass windows. They were beautiful, beautiful things."

Perhaps the mosaic has done what Chagall once said "authentic art" should always do: "to bring life and culture to their fullness."

"The Chagall piece is a much-loved public artwork in Chicago," Fernandez said. "It's both ironic and appropriate that the mosaic, being about the seasons, should suffer the effects of the inclement weather."